The disaster in Texas resulting from an electric grid that was deliberately left exposed and likely to fail in rare cold weather events has received a lot of dramatic coverage, as well it should given the loss of life and damage to so many homes and businesses. It also raised some questions regarding competition and designing markets. … Read More
This case study explores the wide-ranging community benefits of Greenlight, the city-owned broadband network in Wilson, North Carolina. The network has been able to quickly adapt and expand service during the pandemic. … Read More
In the WSJ, ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell also explains the failures of US broadband policy that has kept communities from getting connected.… Read More
In the Des Moines Register, ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell discusses Iowa’s leadership in broadband and West Des Moines’ innovative partnership with Google Fiber which will provide high-quality Internet service at an affordable price for all residents.… Read More
This report investigates broadband competition in communities across the country.… Read More
Iowa is home to many community networks, from co-ops to muni cable, fiber, and other technologies. Three communities in the state have just recently made important announcements about their plans, and several others are moving forward with networks.… Read More
After many years working to promote community networks, we here at Community Broadband Networks want to lay out our broader vision of a better connected country. We hope this vision pulls together all we’ve done and continue to do, and provides a framework for understanding our worldview.… Read More
As states are considering whether and how to use federal CARES Act funding to improve Internet access, Idaho is poised to enact counter-productive limits on who can use that money by excluding community-owned solutions. Though many states have been under pressure from big monopoly providers to only fund for-profit business models with broadband subsidies, those voices seem largely absent in this Idaho fight. Instead, it is some local monopoly providers that are threatened by a wave of new community networks that break the old monopoly approach to broadband networks.… Read More
Last week, Frontier Communications told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that there are 17,000 census blocks in which it is now offering 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload. … Read More
